ACHCA shocker: CEO leaving to join CARF

Mary Tellis-Nayak is ending her four-year term as executive director of the American College of Health Care Administrators to join the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.
Tellis-Nayak likely will join the accrediting organization sometime in July as a business development executive in charge of long-term care, according to CARF CEO Brian Boon.

The news of Tellis-Nayak's departure broke awkwardly, when she attempted to hand in her resignation early April 18, as the group's annual meeting in Providence, R.I., was starting. At first, the resignation was declined, and then surprised ACHCA leaders suggested Tellis-Nayak return home rather than stay for the conference.Immediately after the conference, newly installed Board Chairwoman Sara Sinclair said that the board decided Tellis-Nayak would be retained to finish projects and help with transition matters. Her contract expires July 15. A search committee hopes to hire a new top executive within 90 days, Sinclair said.A nurse and a former nun, Tellis-Nayak's background notably includes a 10-year stint as long-term care director with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.Tellis-Nayak will remain in the Washington area for the non-profit CARF, which accredits 37,000 programs and services here and abroad.

Fecal transplants should be considered for patients with recurrent cases of Clostridium difficile whose symptoms cannot be addressed by antibiotics, the Infectious Diseases Society of America said in new guidelines published Thursday.

Lawmakers took a long-standing industry complaint to the Department of Health and Human Services this week, telling Secretary Alex Azar that Medicare and Medicaid favor opioid prescription over non-addictive alternatives for treating chronic pain.